A happy, happy birthday girl & 7 weeks to go...well maybe

Olivia had a wonderful birthday party, filled with lots of playmates and plenty of cake! Many, many thanks to those of you who were brave enough to weather the storm of toddlers with me. Next year, we're going sooooooooo low key.


















Yesterday marked 7 weeks until we finally get to meet the little guy...well maybe. We'll know for sure Hudson Graham Tieman's birthdate after our appointment on August 28th. Wahoo!

On August 11 Shane, Olivia and I went in for a 4D ultrasound and below are a sampling of what we saw. I won't go into the graphic details of anatomy here, but its safe to say he's still a boy!

God grant me longevity

My sweeet baby Olivia will celebrate her first birthday tomorrow.

Wow!

Where has the time gone? This time last year, when we were just getting ready to meet Olivia, folks would say, "someone's getting ready to press the fast forward button on your lives." There was no way I could fully comprehend exactly what it was they meant then...but boy, do I now. Without question, I know one day I will look up and she'll be heading off to kindergarten...then worse--a first date, college, ahhhh...this is too much to think about right now. For today, I am both thrilled and excited, and extremely impressed that my little baby girl is not a baby anymore. When we first brought her home, I felt so inadequate as a mommy that I prayed for her 1st birthday...I knew by then she and I would have it all figured out, not to mention the whole notion of SIDS could be tossed out of the window. Strange perhaps, but these were my fears and thoughts during those first few weeks and months. I was in awe of her right from the beginning and knew that I surely had recieved the most precious gift, directly from God, that had ever been created...far better than I deserve.







And one whole year later, I still am in complete awe of this precious little one. Her innate comedic timing, her ability to see something once and know exactly how to do it and what makes it do whatever it is that it does, her unbelieveably sweet and loving ways, her inherent gift of gab and overwhelming friendliness and outgoing nature. I am in awe of HER...every tiny little piece. My favorite parts of the day are waking her up in the morning, those little eyes dancing and bright smile flashing as she peeps between the crib and the bumper to make sure its me standing at the door, just before she leaps to her feet and points to one of the many stuffed animals or knick-knacks that decorate her room as to say, "let me tell you what that one did last night while you were sleeping, Mommy." And when I walk through my back door in the evenings to be greeted by the biggest and brightest smile, hand waving and the sweetest, "hey, my momma!" And at night when she puts her head on my shoulder and plays with my hair as we're heading off to bed. And as she and I are saying our prayers, I know these are moments when you can not deny and must praise Him, "I have been blessed beyond what I deserve! My cup runneth over!"

One whole year.

Wow!

Where has the time gone?

God, grant me longevity! Another 80 years still won't be long enough.